We present the first metallicity gradient measurement for a grand-design face-on spiral galaxy at z~1.5. This galaxy has been magnified by a factor of 22$times$ by a massive, X-ray luminous galaxy cluster MACS,J1149.5+2223 at z=0.544. Using the Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics aided integral field spectrograph OSIRIS on KECK II, we target the Halpha emission and achieve a spatial resolution of 0.1, corresponding to a source plane resolution of 170 pc. The galaxy has well-developed spiral arms and the nebular emission line dynamics clearly indicate a rotationally supported disk with V_{rot}/sigma~4. The best-fit disk velocity field model yields a maximum rotation of V_{rot} sin{i}=150$pm$15 km s^{-1}, and a dynamical mass of M_{dyn}=1.3$pm0.2times10^{10}csc^2(i) M_{odot} (within 2.5,kpc), where the inclination angle i=45$pm10^{circ}$. Based on the [NII] and Halpha ratios, we measured the radial chemical abundance gradient from the inner hundreds of parsecs out to ~5 kpc. The slope of the gradient is -0.16$pm$0.02 dex kpc$^{-1}$, significantly steeper than the gradient of late-type or early-type galaxies in the local universe. If representative of disk galaxies at z~1.5, our results support an inside-out disk formation scenario in which early infall/collapse in the galaxy center builds a chemically enriched nucleus, followed by slow enrichment of the disk over the next 9 Gyr.
تحميل البحث